McRib: will it ever return, now that McD's is revamping its 'healthy image?

I cannot precisely recall the last McRib I've eaten, but surely its been within the last 5 years. Much like a saucy ex-girlfriend fondly-yet-falsely recalled thru the distortions of time, I seem to get nostalgic for the McRib's sweet chemical funk every now and again, mainly because it is unobtainable on a regular basis. The first 3 or 4 bites provide a hit of familiarity and perhaps satisfaction, but with each successive chaw, the 'meat' texture begins to feel like what I imagine plane crash survivors on frozen andean mountaintops must resort to consuming. It even seems to expand in the mouth as one masticates. I don't think I've ever finished an entire McRib. But I think I want one. Question: is the McRib seasonal, and if so, what season? Or perhaps now with their 'healhty' salads and apple slices pushed to the front, McD's now relegates the messy McRib to the forgotten attic, where crazy uncles go to live out their days. Gone for good, or just locked away?

Yes, to all you've confessed! Within moments of unwrapping the McRib from it's paper shroud, I think to myself: "Hey, it's kinda small. Maybe they've shortened it. But by bite # 5, I'm wondering as to just what point my esophagus will wisen up and rebel with a violent gag reflex. And that hauntingly hued sauce, visually so much like an unholy marriage of molasses and blood! The McRib is an urban legend brought to life, like zombie food. And like you, I want one...

Extremely funny, because you are so true. The McRib is the best pseudo-BBQ, pseudo-pork (I hope!), pseudo-food. It definitely gives Soylent Green a run for its money... wait, didn't the Soylent Corporation buy McDonalds a few years ago? McRib is People!

Yes, the Simpsons captured it perfectly in the "Ribwich" episode. That rush of sensation when it hits the tongue.

It is disgusting, but it's also inviting. I haven't eaten one for over ten years, but after reading this post I can remember the exact flavor. I want one- even though I KNOW that when I finish eating it I will be regretting the decision.

Yes ... McDonald's virtue ... they save us from ourselves by only offering it occassionally ... or perhaps they need to wait for a new generation after killing off the old McRib eaters.

"visually so much like an unholy marriage of molasses and blood!

Lovely. I'll have that in my mind if there is a next time for the McRib. It should be the advertising slogan.

I don't suppose posting on home cooking about how to make one at home would produce results. I'm sure nothing natural goes into these. You never see McRib on those sites or in the books that duplicate restaurant recipes. It is impossible to re-create outside the laboratory.

Oh! Count me in as a McRib Lover - yes I will admit it! I myself have found a pretty close at home substitute - try the Garden Burger Riblets. They are shaped like the McRib, complete with the "bones" and with the same pseudo-meat texture. Put it on a bun with sliced white onions & pickles, and it's pretty darn close - and at least healthier.

I love you all, I also have a McRib fetish. It got to be combo of BBQ sauce made with old soda syrup, the astringent pickles and the pulverized sesame seed bun. If one disassembles the sandwich (not recommended, but either is eating it) you can see the outline of bones, but biting into it reveals no bones. Is this liquid bone? Space age polymer? I imagine it is a result of some kind of mold, but this means there is a McRib Gun that injects, some kind of McRib paste. This McRib gun could be considered a WMD. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

When my older brother worked at McDonalds in the late 70s and McRib was first launched I remember him telling me about the sandwich and the fake McRiblet bones that they molded the pork "meat" cutlet into. We laughed hysterically until we cried at why they made a pork meat patty with fake bones and then started thinking about the McRib molds that molds the meat into that shape at the McRib factory and that got us laughing even harder. I don't know maybe it's just our wacky sense of humor but still to this day I laugh when thinking about the McRib sandwich.